Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 3,875 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,482 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,875 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after buying an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $430,755,000 after buying an additional 1,041,145 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 139,068 shares of company stock valued at $26,600,684. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $165.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $134.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.66 and a 200-day moving average of $190.09. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.